Bimpe and her husband Lanre had an amazing wedding. They had been friends longer than their courtship so when he proposed, saying yes came naturally to Bimpe.
Two years after their wedding, they became worried about having a child but in the fourth year, Bimpe didn’t see her monthly period and after all checks were done, she received the long awaited news with joy. She was pregnant!
“Guess what Lanre?” she asked her husband as he walked in from work? “You know I don’t handle surprises well Bimpe, please just tell me what it is, it has been a hectic day.” Lanre said. Bimpe began to smile and at the same time started rubbing her stomach. Lanre’s eyes lit and he tried to mutter the right words “Bimpsy are we…are we…” “Yes!!!” Bimpe interjected and continued. “Yes boo boo, we are pregnant!”. They both began to scream so loud that their house help and chef ran to the sitting room to find out what was happening and they were told there was nothing to worry about “Sorry, we frightened both of you with our shouts, you can get back to work. You will find out someday what made us shout this loud” Lanre said.
Days ran into weeks, to months and two months to when the baby was due, Bimpe began to prepare for travel. She was going to stay with her cousin in America but she somehow decided she did not want to travel to have the baby again and her husband agreed. All he was concerned was about his wife and baby being fine so, if she decided to want to have the child in Nigeria, he was fine with it. They made all plans to have the child, registered in their preferred hospital and her doctor was Dr. Nike Adams.
One midnight, Bimpe woke up and started feeling uncomfortable. She woke Lanre up and he jumped out of bed like he was ready to go to war. “I think it’s time!” she said. He picked his car keys and with the help of the maid, led her to the car and off they sped to the hospital.
Luckily, Dr. Nike was on call. Lanre had called her so she was waiting for them already. Immediately she saw both of them coming in, she speedily met up with them, nurses were already on ground and she was taken to the delivery room. After two hours of labour, Bimpe had a normal delivery, it was a bouncing baby boy and they had both agreed to call him Samson. The baby was wrapped and given to Lanre who was present in the delivery room.
Tears came down his eyes as he received the baby, he took him to Bimpe and said “Thanks darling for making me a daddy” and planted a kiss on her forehead. Dr Nike was done with everything and congratulated the latest couple. Although, after delivering Samson, the placenta would not come out so Dr Nike had to remove the placenta manually in several pieces. When she pulled out the initial part, it broke. Meanwhile, experts have said that placentas may stick to the uterus and break apart, making total removal critical. Another patient needed her attention so she left to go and attend to the patient after she was done with Bimpe.
Bimpe got home but kept complaining of pain, continuous bleeding despite a normal vaginal delivery. She called Dr. Nike to inform her but she told her it will go away but it did not go. Lanre decided to share his concerns with his friend who is a Gynaecologist and he said he hoped it was not a situation of a retained placenta. “What??” Lanre exclaimed!
The placenta has a very distinct appearance, and even a small missing portion can be cause for concern.
A retained placenta can lead to an aggressive infection and haemorrhaging and if any part remains inside, the uterus will not contract enough to stop the bleeding and infection cannot be overruled.
Experts say that sometimes, there is a delay in the delivery of the placenta after the baby has been born. In other instances, the placenta is delivered, but it is clear that some fragments remain in the uterus. It is extremely important that these fragments be removed, as they may allow blood vessels to remain open, causing haemorrhage either shortly after delivery or several days to weeks after delivery.
The experts have also revealed that if your placenta does not come out spontaneously within about thirty minutes after you give birth, your provider may gently massage your abdomen, ask you to push, and/or attempt to stimulate uterine contractions by giving you Pitocin or asking you to breast-feed. If these techniques are not successful, she or he may attempt a manual extraction of the placenta (removing it by hand).
A retained placenta was certainly not what Lanre needed to hear. He pleaded with his wife to follow him to meet his friend. He regretted not going there initially because he had to succumb to his wife’s demand. She did not want Lanre’s friend laying a finger on her. Reason? Story for another day.
Bimpe finally agreed and after several tests, Lanre’s fears were confirmed. Dr. Nike didn’t completely remove the placenta.
After the procedure, Bimpe felt relieved. And while on the bed in the theatre, she said to Lanre “Sweetheart, we have to look at this legally. How could she? What if I had died?” she asked and Lanre responded “My dear, you are alive and that is all that matters. Let’s focus on getting home and thanking God for life before we start flexing muscles”.
Bimpe got home and began to heal properly. Her phone rang, it was Dr. Nike and as she was about to pick her husband collected the phone from her, he was sure she was going to rain fire. He informed Dr. Nike about what had happened. She was truly sorry. Bimpe collected the phone from her husband and put it on speaker “Dr. Nike you are sorry? Sorry? If I had died you would be sorry for my husband I guess” she said “I completely understand you Ma, I am so so so sorry. Please I beg you, forgive me. I have never had this kind of experience before I am sorry” she said in a trembling voice. At this point, Lanre was already pleading with Bimpe with gestures as he watched her speak in anger with Dr.Nike, to please let it go. He cut in the conversation saying “It’s ok Dr. Nike, you are quite fortunate this happened to a forgiving couple like us. Please be careful in your practice. I know you value lives but we cannot be too careful to preserve it.”
Samson clocked 3 two weeks ago and Bimpe is pregnant with her second child. It’s a girl!! However, Bimpe is certainly going to have her baby in America.
Kemi Ajumobi
